<p>I’m currently a rising senior at one of the top high schools in Texas. I am 17 and of the Indian ethnicity. When given my stats, what would you say my chances are for Boston College?</p>
<p>My Info:</p>
<p>ACT: 32</p>
<p>SAT: 2050</p>
<p>GPA: 3.5 UW - 4.3 W</p>
<p>Courseload: Taken 8 AP classes so far, planning on taking 5 more next year. </p>
<p>SAT II: Math II 660 - US History 630 - English Lit - 600 (Taking these three again, will
probably be much higher)</p>
<p>Class Rank - my school does not rank outside of the top 10% but I would say I am safely in the top 25%</p>
<p>Extra Curricular:</p>
<p>Currently Interning at the District Attorney’s office with the D.A. This hopefully will be a large hook mainly because of my interest in criminal law which eventually would be my interest in Law School. I deal with multiple criminal cases there and receive large amounts of experience there.</p>
<p>3 Year Varsity Lacrosse - Lettered 3 Years</p>
<p>Eagle Scout</p>
<p>N.H.S</p>
<p>Model U.N</p>
<p>Debate</p>
<p>Over 50 hours volunteering at community library</p>
<p>Rec Letters - Planning on getting them from my AP Comparative Governement teacher and my AP Physics B teacher. Also will get one from my counselor but this is a little tricky because she is retiring this summer so she is not writing letters…so I’ll just get to know my new counselor as soon as possible </p>
<p>Dear lacrosse29 : Your ACT board scores as well as your SAT I scores (assuming they are balanced) should be fine overall. Noting that Boston College has 80-85% of each freshman class from the Top 10% of their high school’s class puts you in a hole related to your GPA. How far off the Top 10% are you at this point? A 3.5 unweighted average does feel “light” given that most students in this camp at 3.7 or above. </p>
<p>How are you performing in your AP Courses? Specifically, are you focusing on the core subjects (English, History, Core Sciences, Calculus, Foreign Language) or taking secondary AP Courses (Environment, Economics/Government, Statistics)? This will make a difference in difficulty of your curriculum evaluation.</p>
<p>Varsity lacrosse is a one season sport - so what is occupying your time during the other two sports seasons (Fall/Winter)? </p>
<p>Regarding recommendations, do NOT offer a guidance counselor letter unless that person can add value other than your transcript details. Your academic background will require some hardcore support and going through trusted AP level teachers might be a good way to go here. Note also that if someone could talk about your leadership skills on your campus, that might help.</p>
<p>One thing seriously missing in this profile is the impact of the work you do. For example, one would expect an Eagle Scout designation to come along with more leadership or community impact statements. With regards to National Honor Society, have there been any volunteerism events there that have made your high school a better place?</p>
<p>Good luck during the application process - at this point, Boston College is a reach due to your GPA/Class Rank and assuming that you can close the gaps on leadership and impact statements.</p>
<p>Overall you are a very competitive applicant with strong academic and extracurricular activities. I’d say you stand a fair chance.
My advice is to spend more time on your essay, really think about how you could show to AOs the best part of you. Like scottj said how the activities you joined impacted on you?
And I believe your GPA wouldn’t be a problem, since you are ready to taking SAT II again to achieve higher and dealing with so much AP courses——what AOs want to see, IMO, is your ability to study well. And a 25% is ok if they could see your ability in other tests.</p>
<p>Sorry, no it won’t, unless you do something meaningful. Plenty of people intern with government agencies. Perhaps use your Eagle Scout project for an impact statement.</p>
<p>Concur with scottj. The 32 is fine. Unless you attend one of the top private prep schools, GPA is low, particularly since many TX high schools are inflated (numerous Vals). The subject tests are low for someone who has just completed the AP courses. Mid-600’s usually translates into a 4 – or even a 3 – on the AP tests. While mid-600’s is probably what most BC students have, I would expect higher to counter your ‘low’ class rank and buttress the fact that you attend a “top” HS. Many students at our California public HS easily clear 700 on the ST’s. (I believe that the our mean is low-600’s.)</p>
<p>I recalculated my unweighted GPA and it’s actually a 3.7 if that changes much. And for showing the “impact” of my Eagle Scout and leadership, I could talk about the project which I lead a group to raise money and install a sprinkler system in an underprivileged school. Would that be more of what they are looking for?</p>
<p>I disagree with bluebayou regarding the impact of your internship. Though maybe not a “large hook,” the fact that you are interning and more specifically interning in an area of interest to you as a high schooler is pretty impressive. You have to be pretty ambitious to pursue that, and admissions will see that.</p>
<p>^^Not a “large hook”, not a small hook, not a hook at all. It’s an EC, (and a pretty good one). But a large portion of successful candidates to highly selective colleges have pretty good ECs in areas in which they are passionate/interested; otherwise they end up being wait listed (assuming good numbers).</p>